This month’s #OTalk Research topic is ‘making better use of systematic reviews’ and will be hosted by @KatrinaBannigan, Associate Professor of Occupational Therapy at the University of Plymouth.

Here’s what Katrina had to say:

Earlier this year I was invited by the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) Database of Systematic Reviews and Implementation Reports to write an editorial (Bannigan 2018). I chose to focus on the role of systematic reviews in developing a complex intervention. The reason for this was systematic reviews have been on the receiving end of criticism; it has been suggested that systematic reviewing has almost become a self-perpetuating industry. Systematic reviews have come to be regarded as an end in themselves which, if we do not make best use of them, they are. As with all research—and systematic reviews are research—their findings are redundant if they are not used. This is why this month’s research #OTalk Research is focussing on making better use of systematic reviews. So whether you are a student, practitioner, researcher, manager, commissioner or policy maker please join in the discussion to share your experience and/ or learn about making better use of systematic reviews.